FROM THE ARCHIVE: Truck Intentionally Strikes California Capitol, Bursts Into Flames

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The standoff outside the California Capitol where a driver parked his car in the middle of L Street on Monday brought back memories of an incident 15 years earlier that changed security around the building.

On Jan. 16, 2001, Mike Bowers, 37, drove an 18-wheeler into the south side of the Capitol. A CBS13 news crew happened to be working on a story nearby when the crash happened and filed a report.

What follows is the report from that night, as well as one a month later detailing the California Highway Patrol's investigation into the incident.

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THE CRASH

A CBS13 photographer and reporter were on the west side of the California Capitol when they heard a noise from the south side.

What we heard and quickly saw, others saw before us, as the big rig driver drove straight into the Capitol.

CBS13 spoke to three witnesses that night who described what happened.

"All of a sudden, I look to my left as I was passing the Capitol and I saw a semi—what looked to be a semi truck—pulled into the step area. It looked like it had either backed in or smashed in. I didn't see any movement in the truck. And all of a sudden, boom, fire. And I thought, 'My God, they're bombing the Capitol," the first witness said.

"I was standing on the corner of 11th and O [streets], and I saw the semi go by really fast. And I thought, isn't there a stop sign there? I noticed he was going really, really fast. And then I hear this big boom, then I look around the corner, then there's fire," the second witness said.

Similar accounts surfaced of the man behind the wheel driving around a several square block area, speeding down 11th Street to apparently gain momentum.

"We saw a big trailer going by. He must have been going 65 mph. I didn't see what direction he went, but I know when he hit N Street, there's only one way you can go, and that's eastbound," the third witness said.

Minutes later, the big rig accelerated again, going full-bore into the state Capitol.

"This time, he had to be flying at least 75 mph, and he just went through the stop sign, and luckily the light rail stopped. If not, he would have took the light rail. He went to through the stop sign, went through the lights, I saw him bounce one, the second bounce was straight into the Capitol and it went up in flames," the third witness said.

Authorities on hand describe the driver's actions as a deliberate criminal act, which now leaves a footnote of a suicide attack in the history of California's Capitol.

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THE INVESTIGATION

"When they heard about him next, it would be his death, and it would be a very grandiose act on his part."

That's what 37-year-old Mike Bowers told his friends before he took his own life. On Jan. 16, 2001, the Riverside County man drove his 78,000-pound 18-wheeler into the south entrance of the Capitol at a speed of 46 mph.

"He was very unhappy, made some—not threats, I don't want to indicate that—but voiced discontent with the California government, as well the governor of the state of California."

The California Highway Patrol released a three-volume, 77-page summary in February 2001 concluding Bowers acted alone and was sober at the time of the crash. According to the report, Bowers had drug, petty theft, battery and DUI convictions. In 1986 and 1991, he was placed in two state mental hospitals. In the past decade, he began a friendship with the Aryan Brotherhood and created an organization called New Order of the World, calling himself the king.

Bowers was unable to hold down a job until he was hired by a trucking company in March 2000. Even his driver's training instructor recommended Bowers be terminated.

"The training instructor immediately called back to their dispatcher and indicated [Bowers] could not drive the truck, that he was very concerned, would not put him in a truck, and he was overruled and [Bowers] was given a job. That training instructor left the company employment at that particular time."

The report also says Bowers nearly missed an inbound light-rail train by 30 seconds and an outbound light-rail train by 45 seconds, with each train carrying some 180 passengers.

"It was just by accident he missed that train. You could not see it coming down the road at the speed he was traveling."